This week’s market recorded increases for the third consecutive series, with main buyer interest in the 18.5 micron and coarser range. The first day of trade saw the NRI gain 60 cents, while the second day was more subdued, with only mar-ginal increases recorded. By the close of the week, the NRI had regained 65 cents, to close at 1635.
In the last three weeks, the NRI has bounced back 257 cents (69% of what it had lost since the mid-year recess). Sell-ers were keen to accept the increased prices, resulting in a national passed in rate of only 7.6%. However, it is worth noting that the fleece market softened to-ward the end of the series, with the West-ern region recording falls of 30-70 cents on the final day.
Skirtings followed a similar path to the fleece, with strong competition helping to push prices up by 40-70 cents.
Next week’s national offering has in-creased considerably as a result of the price rises, currently there are 40,999 bales rostered nationally.
Source: AWEX